Warren's Pryde
by Zero1996
Summary: My characters take the place of the characters from 999 and take part in the Nonary Games Junpei- Warren Akane - Skylar Lotus - Terra Snake - Angelina Clover - Allen Seven - Shea Ace - Devin Santa - Myde 9 - Vincent
1. Chapter 1

Far away in another dimension there is a planet, a planet similar to our own, but with endless possibilities. Many of the citizens in the planet have witnessed adventure first hand and have told their tales continuously for many generations. Tales of glory, betrayal, and love, but now it's time for a new tale to unfold. A tale of how a boy with no past finds his own adventure on his journey to find his lost memories.

. . .

Our tale begins in the hospital room of a coma patient who after a terrible accident has awakened to find his family gathered around him.

Warren's consciousness drifted in his mind, slowly making him believe he was dead. White light and the faces of people who he could not name reassured him that he clearly was not dead.

A woman wearing a shining red dress stared into his eyes and grew very, very pale, as if she has seen a ghost.

"We thought you were gone." The statement grim as it was puzzled warren to the point of him making a face. His nose caught a whiff of something atrocious. His nose registered that the smell was the room he was in. It had obviously been cleaned a thousand times.

"Where am I?" Thought Warren as his eyes traveled the room. Posters on some type of illness and ads for medication are the first to land his somewhat conscious attention.

The man with the blown jacket suddenly stands and walks toward the women in the red dress.

"I'm going to go get a doctor." The mans' voice was soft and seemed to be in pain like there's some memory plaguing him, but the women pay no attention to the tone of the mans' voice and only nods.

The man leaves and the room once again returns to silence, save the slow beeping of Warrens heart monitor. Another thought crosses his mind as he spots a gold cross around the women's neck, but the thought is interrupted by a cacophony of footsteps.

Doctors enter the room and begin talking to the women all at once and Warren begins to regret waking up.

"My boy," One of the more talkative doctor's puts his attention on Warren. "Can you speak?"

Warren nods "yes"

Looks of relief appears and the doctor smiles and in a way that's short and to the point speaks. "Warren, you were in a terrible accident that left you comatose and quite frankly If I wasn't here witnessing it I'd tell anyone who told me you were awake that they were a loony."

"When can we take him home?" Asked the women with the red dress who was now fiddling with her cross.

"We have a few tests to run, but you'll be able to bring him home today." The doctor smiles,

"Home." Thought Warren. A word so simple; but carries so much.

After many tests that challenge both his mind and physical capability Warren is awarded a trip home. Unfortunately every reward comes with a price and Warrens is his memory. The doctors sat that somehow his subconscious has made his memories inaccessible. They seem to be there, but Warren can't get to them. Another doctor pointed out that it could be a safety mechanism of some kind protecting Warren from some memory of an ineffable tragedy, but no one was really sure. Warren wondered if they even truly had his welfare in mind.

The women who had worn the red dress was Warrens adopted mom and her name was Mary-Anne. The man with the brown coat was Warren's adopted father and he would come to call him Travis.

"Travis and Mary-Anne, Mary-Anne and Travis." Warren mulled over the names in his mind to try and spark something, anything, but nothing came and he turned his attention to the car window. Outside was a huge city; people lined the sidewalks in lines, some trying to quiet hungry babies in strollers, other tapping their feet to some rhythm that only their brains knew.

"We know that you just came from the hospital, but we'd like you to continue school tomorrow." Came Travis' voice from the driver's seat.

"Travis! Give the boy some time." Barked Mary-Anne. Warren sank in his seat. School was defiantly a word he remembered.

They continued driving until they arrived at a church which stood extremely tall leaving Warren feeling small and insignificant. Travis parked near the door and went around to the other side opening Mary-Anne's door and Warrens.

"C'mon boy; don't be lazy. Father Albert isn't gonna stop mass just because we're late." Travis ruffled Warrens' hair and he didn't like that at all, but he kept quiet as they entered the church then took their seats.

Father Albert's voice drifted to Warrens' ears, but only Warrens' eyes paid attention. They furiously scanned the room skillfully looking at everyone and everything. From the beautiful stained glass windows to the girl down the pew who seemed to be praying, Warren glanced around the room again until Mary-Anne tapped his arm.

"Manna; take some and pass it down." She handed him a plate full of some type of bread which he took a small bite of and passed it down. It tasted like ash in his mouth. He would have to drink a whole lake to get rid of the taste from his mouth. This religion thing; was defiantly not his thing. Warren hoped that after what he had already been through god wouldn't punish him for not enjoying…whatever this was. Though Warrens mind wandered he decided to keep quiet and watch the bee that was flying over the heads of the church goers. A thought crossed Warren's mind and he let out a chuckle.

"Warren what's so funny?" Came Mary-Anne's voice.

"Nothing; just a thought." From then Warren didn't make a sound, which was fine, nobody seemed to notice.

When mass was over everyone was ushered out into the lobby talking in a cacophony of tones. Warren caught bits and pieces about war, death, religion, and love, but none of those things caught his attention.

Someone bumped into him which made him momentarily stagger. "I'm so sorry." Came a small feminine voice from behind. Warren turned to look and couldn't believe his eyes.

She was beautiful.


	2. Chapter 2

**Well you asked for it and here it is; Warrens' Pryde chapter two. Enjoy.**

Warren couldn't believeeyes. In front of him was a girl, probably around his age, with fiery red-orange hair and impressively green eyes that Warren would never forget. The girl tilted her head; those green eyes fixed on Warrens' own icy baby blue ones.

"Hello?" Her voice was filled with curiosity and a touch of worry. Warren shook himself out of the daze he had been in since the girl had turned around and outstretched his hand.

"I-I'm Warren." The girl eyed him for a brief moment and took his hand and shook it lightly.

"Skylar." Warrens' heart began to pound in his chest.

Skylar took out a pen from her small purse and wrote some numbers on Warrens' hand. "I'd like to see you somewhere other than church. Give me a call if you need anything." Skylar winked and as Warren glanced at the numbers she walked away. Warren was star struck, and he didn't even know why.

That night when Warren went to sleep he dreamt of Skylar and of the ship; The Gigantic. A sister ship of the Titanic. (The Gigantic was originally called the HMHS Britannic.) Images flashed in his mind making his body twitch outside the dream world. He watched the somber eyes of children as they ran through doors with numbers on them. One child ran by and Warren noticed a strange bracelet on the child's arm that had the number "2" on it, just like the doors. Warrens mind raced more and he spotted a young boy who struck Warren as familiar, but he didn't know how or why… The little boy had a woeful look on his face like something terrible and scaring had just happened. Warren watched the boy's fists clench, he seemed to be staring at something….or someone. Warren followed the boys glare carefully to a door where a man with a terrible grin was looking through a window.

Then to Warren and apparently the little boy's surprise, the man spoke. "C'mon you little urchin, I know you want to hit me, so come and try!" The boy didn't move a muscle; he just stared until the man left the window.

The boy's fists twitched slightly and tightened considerably. His head went down and he looked like he was about to shout something when alarms began to blare all around and Warren was jolted awake.

Warren found himself hugging a large black body pillow and covered in the same color sheets. Where was he now? And how the hell did he get here? His mind wandered, but returned with no answers. Warrens' bladder forced him to stand. Next to the bed on a small bedside table was a map of what looked like the layout of the house. A small red arrow pointed at a small square that read "YOUR ROOM" in red. Warren scanned the page for "the bathroom". It was easy enough to find and was the room two doors down.

Warren quickly made his way there; map in hand, to relieve himself. After; he moved to the sink to wash his hands noticing for the first time his reflection. His hair; white as snow, shagged on his head, but was slightly longer in the back. His sullen eyes; an icy baby blue. He splashes water on his face to see if anything would change…but nothing did. Without another thought Warren picked up the map and began walking down the hall.

As Warren reached the stairs it hit him all at once; the boy, the bracelets, the doors, the atrocity. It was all coming together. The Nonary Games; everything based around the number"9". The boat; the Gigantic…Warren remembered being on that boat, but just as fast as the epiphany came, it vanished.

Warren opened his eyes finding himself on the stairs leaned up against the wall. He used the railing to pull himself up to a standing position, his bones aching like crazy. He made his way down the stairs slowly and around the corner to where the map had said the kitchen was. Mary-Anne was at the counter chopping carrots and Travis was at a small circular table reading the paper.

"This is blasphemy! Those punks down at the tracks have been painting red 9's on all of the train-carts." Warrens' breath caught in his throat and he coughed bringing unwanted attention to himself. Mary-Anne dropped the knife on the counter and rushed to his side.

"Warren, are you alright?" We had no idea you were awake." Mary-Anne brought him over to a chair. Warren was beginning to feel hot and dizzy, like he had just run a marathon and they were out of water. Travis raised an eyebrow at his "son".

"Boy you look like you just saw a ghost, is something wrong?" Warren couldn't speak so he just shook his head. The choice whether to tell his parents about remembering his past hung in the back of his mind.

"That nice girl from church; Skylar, said she was going pick you up in her truck and bring you to school today." Mary-Anne whipped her hands on a towel and looked down at Warren.

"O-okay." Warren sputtered, giving a look to Mary-Anne and Travis; did they know anything about his past? Would they ever know? Would they even believe him if he attempted to tell them, probably not…

Mary-Anne placed a bowl of cereal in front of Warren and as it hit the table he snapped out of his daze. He looked up to her and smiled then began eating, his train of thought completely gone.


	3. Chapter 3

**Eh, why not another improvised chapter to give you something to busy yourselves with. The story is actually written, but I wanted to take this part in a different direction so I just let my brain go. Warren is usually passive so I don't know where this came from. But enjoy anyway.**

Warren finished his cereal and placed the bowl in the sink then ran up to his room. He had been in a black t-shirt and some plaid sleep pants the entire time and needed to get changed before Skylar showed up. Warren threw on some clothes and looked at his reflection in the mirror on the back of his door.

Warren had put on a pair of jeans and a plain white t-shirt. There had been a brown jacket in what seemed to be his closet, and he threw that on too. His pants wouldn't stay up and after a long strenuous search he found a plain black belt; which he put on and tightened as much as possible.

Warren was giving himself one last once over when he heard the honk of a car horn. Warren straightened his jacket one last time and hurried down the stairs. Mary-Anne was waiting at the bottom.

"Oh, I was just about to tell you that Skylar's here." She gave him a warm smile that in turn made him smile.

"I know, Mom." Warrens' eyes went wide. The "Mom" part had just sorta come out. Mary-Anne's eyes watered with tears of joy. She was holding a black backpack. Warren felt the immediate need to change the subject and quickly asked, "I-is that mine?" Mary-Anne snapped out of it.

"Oh, this? Yes." She handed it to him. "Here dear, now go on, you don't wanna be late for your first day back and remember son; have a good day." She gave him a quick hug and ushered him toward the front door of the small farmhouse. There were tan boots at the door and Mary-Anne pointed to them. Warren took the hint that they were his and hopped on one foot to get them on, the black backpack swinging wildly on his back. There was another honk and Warren kissed Mary-Anne's cheek then ran out the door. There was a small "See you later son." From Travis, but Warren didn't register it 'till he was outside. He was about to turn around when Skylar rolled down her window.

"Dude! Get a move on!" Warren looked down contemplating it then ran toward the very old, brown Chevy pickup and joined Skylar in the cab. "'Bout damn time." Warren was almost shocked at her for cursing like that, but she sped away and Warren was too busy holding onto the "holy-crap-strap" to even address it.

Skylar took a fast left turn that sent Warren into the door. "Jesus Skylar; slow down will ya?" Warren really didn't want to go into a coma again because of reckless driving.

"So he speaks." There was a smile in her voice. Skylar looked up at the rearview mirror and frowned. Warren noticed immediately.

"What's wrong?"

"This guy won't get off my ass." Warren looked in the side mirror and saw a big black van with tinted windows. The van sped up and was getting way to close for Warren's comfort.

"Sky, I think they're gonna ram us." Warren said quickly.

"They're what?!" But before Warren could repeat himself the van rammed the truck and sent them off the road where they quite fiercely hit a tree.

Warren's head ached and as he opened his eyes he saw Skylar; unconscious at the wheel. He glanced around trying to gain back his senses when both doors were ripped open by black masked men.

"Oui, this one's still awake." The guy near Warren yelled to the other one. Warrens mind ran wild and he began to panic a little, but as panic rose, so did an idea. Warren lifted his hands in surrender, and then unbuckled his seatbelt with his left hand. "Oui, what are you doing pal?"

"I'll come quietly." Warren began to get out of the truck and the black masked man backed up, a small hand gun pointed at Warren.

"Oui, he says he'll come quietly." The man yelled to the other, who was carefully caring a limp Skylar to the black van. Warren noticed the man was distracted and moved quickly. Warren balled up is face and right-hooked the guy in the face, hearing a crack and sprinting away as quickly as possible. Warren ran as fast as his feet would take him, but he didn't get far. There was a gunshot and as he began to fall Warren realized he had been shot.

As Warrens' eyes began to close he watched the men walk in front of him waiting to pick him up. The one that he had hit was still bleeding from the nose and as Warren's consciousness faded into darkness he smiled. He had one his own little battle.


	4. Chapter 4

Warren stood and watched the 9 year old image of himself follow some other kids through numbered doors. He was thrilled that he could remember, but naturally he was in a bit of denial. How something like this could have happened and how he could barely remember any of it, frightened him, but his fear was short lived because an alarm went off sending him flying up. Warren hit his head on the ceiling, sending vibrations throughout the room. In the confusion, he fell to the floor.

"Fuck." Warren rubbed the back of his head. There was a small bump there, but he'd be fine. Warren was slightly worried. He had been shot, but currently he wasn't dead. He was alive, and tired, and achy. What had they shot him with? He didn't know what exactly it had been, but it was definitely not a real bullet. Thinking about everything made Warrens head hurt even more so to get his mind off of it Warren decided to look around the room.

Taking a look around it calmed Warrens' fears to know that he was in fact, the only one in the room. Behind him was a three-bunk bed that he had just fallen off of, there was also another three-bunk bed on the other side. There was also a sink, a door with a card reader, what looked like a closet, a curtain against a wall, a stove looking thing (which hosted a tea pot), a door with a red "5" on it, and a small port-hole window. Warren slowly walked over to the window out of curiosity and attempted to look out of it.

As Warren looked through the glass all he saw was darkness. Warren thought something was up so he tried to clean the glass off with his jacket sleeve. As Warren applied pressure the glass began to crack. Warren staggered back a bit and tripped landing on his ass. Water began to flow in through the crack. Shock hit him and it took him a few seconds to come back to his senses enough so he could pick himself back up.

"I gotta get the hell outta here, now." Warren said as the water began rising higher. It had already reached the soles of his shoes. Without hesitation Warren ran over to the door with the red "5" and started pounding, pulling, pushing and attempting every way he could think of to open a door. Finally he resorted to punching it, but it was no use. The door stood still, unharmed, and the only thing Warren had accomplished was hurting his own hand.

Not knowing what to do next Warren began to look around the room for some sort of answer, but found none. With little hope of surviving his far-from-humane death, Warren began to search again, this time more thoroughly.

Warren placed his right hand on the wall, or what he thought was a wall, next to him. He had planned on using it for leverage so he could measure how high the water was with his hand, but when he put his weight on it he pulled something down and was tossed face first into the water. Momentarily stunned Warren just sat on his knees looking at the red curtain in his hand. This place was super weird. Curious as to what was behind the curtain he stood up slowly and looked at where the curtain had been. It was a mirror! The curtain had been hiding a mirror this whole time.

Warren looked at the sickly pale reflection in the mirror. It took him a few seconds to realize he was looking at himself. What had happened, well, besides getting shot with something? Warrens' emotions raged inside him and he was about to burst. Warrens' fist hit the glass hard; it shattered causing him to look at the broken mirror again. Taped to the mirror next to where his fist had hit was a red key. A small bit of joy came over Warren as he took the key in hand, but it was short lived because it was then that he realized he had nothing for the key to unlock. With an undermining hope Warren continued his search. Flipping back pillows he found two cards; one with shapes attached to numbers and one with red shapes and blue shapes. Warren was in the process of shoving them in his pocket when he caught the sight of a blue and red watch attached to his left wrist. How the hell he hadn't noticed before was beyond him, but Warren didn't dwell on it, he was too busy investigating it. The watch had a red LCD light that made the number "5"; just like the door. Dismissing for a minute the thought that it wasn't just coincidence, Warren continued his search.

Within the next few minutes Warren found a red briefcase, a blue briefcase, a blue key, and another piece of paper with shapes and numbers on it. The water was now up to Warrens shins and it was beginning to get harder to walk. To get his mind off of his impending doom he began busying himself with all the objects he had found. There was a pattern! The papers with the arrows and the shapes; if one arrow was blue and pointing to the left side of paper #1 (in the order that Warren had found him), then on paper #2 the arrow was pointing to the right side! Warren grabbed the blue briefcase and placed it on the middle bunk, which was eye level. The arrows also had shapes next to them that corresponded with numbers, and as Warren began to realize this, he also realized that these were the combinations to the cases!

With much excitement brewing inside him Warren worked his magic on the cases. Inside the blue case was a file; with a puzzled look on his face Warren flipped through it. The word "Digital Root" caught his attention and a little definition below it.

"1.) Add all the numbers to one another. If you end up with a two digit number, add the digits to one another again. Keep adding digits until you get a single digit number. The final single digit number is your digital root." Warren thinks it sounds familiar but continues to read to himself. "Ex; the digital root of (678) would be, 6+7+8=21. Then; 2+1=3. Therefore, the digital root of 678 is 3." Warren stops reading and mumbles to himself.

"So I just keep adding numbers until I get a single digit number." He smiles on the inside, ecstatic to actually be getting somewhere. Something feels weird on the back of the file and Warren flips the file over to see a notebook and a stack of keycards. Sticking the cards in his pocket Warren runs to the other case and like before, using the papers. Opening the case revealed to Warren more keycards. Epiphany strikes him and he wades through the water over to the door where the card reader is. Sliding a 1, 6, and 7 through it the reader gives a happy little beep and changes from locked to open and Warren almost jumped for joy. Not willing to spend any more time in the waist deep water Warren ripped open the door.

Along with a wall of angry water Warren shot out of the room and into the opposing wall. Gasping to catch his breath he looked around. He was in a narrow hallway, the water that had followed him rushed down the rest of the hall and slammed into the last step of a short flight of stairs, five steps in fact. Warren half slipped and half leapt up the stairs, when he reached the top he realized there was an iron door in the way. Flinging the door open Warren exploded out, only to stop dead in his tracks.

Before him was a polished floor with an ornate staircase rising up from its edges. Warrens' mind blanked. Where was he? Before he could do anything else a wall of water rushed from behind him, in a panic Warren slammed the door and sprinted up the stairs. Warren passed two signs; one "C Deck" and another "B Deck". He bounded up the stairs not sure at all where he was.

Just as he began to wonder where the stairs would in fact lead, Warren spotted a line of people out of the corner of his eye. Warren went to a dead stop and almost tripped on the last step. Seven people stared at him with horror filled eyes. Warren followed suit. Who were these people? It lasted only seconds, but seemed to drag on. A girl wearing green cargo pants and a red hoodie spoke, and time began to move again.

"Guess there's one more of us now." She jumped the last few steps to the floor. Warren didn't know what to think of her but in his head she reminded him of a spry little dog so he decided to call her spry. "C'mon, hurry up." Spry ran past Warren leaving him a bit stunned, but the others wasted no time and quickly followed her.

The first to pass Warren was a young man with midnight black hair. As he ran past Warren he mumbled something about Warren being one of them. The next one to pass him also had black hair, but his face was calm and without fear. His sullen eyes glowed a blood red color that reminded Warren of a vampire.

"Going up won't do you any good. There are two doors, but neither will open."

The next to speak was a boy with snow white hair and piercing green eyes. "Hurry." His hand was wrapped around the wrist of a girl. The first thing Warren noticed, other than her white hair, was that her eyes were covered by a black cloth. A dark purple dress covered the rest of her body. She reminded Warren of a gothic angel.

"That makes nine of us." Her voice made her sound more fragile then she looked.

Two more people ran by; a tall women with blonde hair and a young man skinny enough to the point where if you turned him sideways and he stuck out his tongue he'd look like a zipper.

The boy didn't say a single word to Warren as he ran past him. The women however, stopped and with an ineffable energy practically barked at Warren.

"Hey!? What the hell're you standing there for? Move your ass!" Without much effort the women, who Warren just realized had two totally different colored eyes, one blue and one brown, pushed him outta the way.

Thrown off balance, Warren took a few steps to get his bearings back. Turning around quickly, Warren saw two iron clad doors with number "5" and a number "4" painted in red, but then something caught his eye. Warren turned his head to see a girl with fiery red-orange hair coming down the stairs. His breath stopped short, and he could hardly breathe.


	5. Chapter 5

**BEWARE SWEARING FROM THE CHARACTERS.**

At the bottom of the stairs stood a girl seeming to be about the same age as Warren. He froze, unable to look away. It wasn't her beauty that made him freeze or any other absurd reason like that. The fact was; Warren had seen her before. He couldn't remember clearly, but he knew he had seen her somewhere before. The girl; wearing a cute purple dress (or shirt, to Warren it wasn't very clear), with black leggings that went a little past her knees, and little black vans, stared at Warren similarly paralyzed. Her response to seeing him gave Warren the impression that she too, had seen him before. Without saying a word Warren approached the girl, but she didn't move, only stared.

Just as Warren reached her the ship, (Warren thinks it's a ship because of the port-hole), began to shake violently. The quake caught the girl off guard and sent her sprawling. Moving on pure instinct, Warren jumped to catch her, or so he believed.

The girls face was too close to Warrens for his own comfort. He was flat on his back and she had clumsily landed on top of him. The girl seemed to be confused and hadn't seemed to recover from seeing him yet. The moment seemed to last for a very long time, but Warren, being very calm kept his cool even though he was beginning to feel very, very uncomfortable.

Once the ship stopped shaking the room became extremely quiet. The others seemed to be watching from the other side of the room and Warren was sure there were disapproving glances being thrown his way. Thank god looks couldn't kill.

Feeling more uncomfortable as time went on by the thick blanket of silence Warren prepared to speak, but the girl did first.

"Oh my gosh…Warren is that you?" The girl's voice echoed in Warrens' mind and in a flash his memory returned.

"Skylar?" Warren silently scolded himself. Maybe he hit his head harder than he thought.

Warrens face began to heat up, but at that moment a speaker crackled to life and began to spit out words in a cold eerie vice that made Warren feel uneasy.

"Welcome aboard. I welcome you all from the bottom of my heart, to this, my vessel." The voice brought both Warren and Skylar to their senses and they quickly untangled themselves and struggled to their feet. The other seven, however, were still staring at the speaker and apparently had heard the voice. The pale laconic boy from before went from ghostly pale to almost transparent. "I am Zero…Captain of this ship. I am also the person who invited you here." The voice added.

Warren watched the boy with midnight black hair ball up his fists. "Hey, asshole! What the fuck is this?! C'mon out here! I wanna get a good look at you!"

"What do you mean to do to us?!" Said the vampire looking guy. Like Warren he also seemed very calm.

Zero only continued. "You are all to play a game, the Nonary Game. During this game you will put your life on the line. Some of you have an advantage and are familiar with the game."

A puzzled look crossed Spry's face. "Nonary Game?"

The bi-colored eyed women spoke and hatred dripped out like saliva. "What the hell's that?!"

Like the others hadn't even spoken the voice continued on. "The rules of the Nonary Game can be found upon your person. They are extremely simple rules. Read them."

The midnight hair kid shoved his balled fists into his pockets and with a horror filled expression pulled paper out of them. "Whoa…check this out."

Feeling curious Warren checked his own pockets. Inside was a slightly damp crumple of paper. Warren then announced that he also had a piece of paper.

Vampire guy pulled out his own paper. "It seems Zero has given us each a letter. Would you mind reading yours?"

Warren felt a bit surprised at his request but proceeded to read his "letter". "On this ship, you will find a handful of those doors with numbers on them; we call these "numbered doors". The doors in front of you are a pair of the same. The key to opening these numbered doors are the "numbered bracelets that each of you possess." Warren paused noticing how each person looked at their bracelet. "Should you total the numbers on your numbered bracelets and find the digital root of the number is equal to the number of that particular door, the door will open. Only those who have opened the door may pass through. However there are limits. Only 3-5 people can pass through one numbered door. All those who enter must leave an all those who enter must continue. The purpose of the game is simple; leave this ship alive. It's hidden, but an exit can be found. Seek a way out; seek the door that carries a 9." Warren read the last of the letter with less than no zeal. There was silence until the speaker crackled to life once more.

"There is one last thing I must tell you. As you have no doubt realized the ship has begun to sink. On April 14th 1912 the famous ocean liner Titanic crashed into an iceberg. After continuing to float for 2 hours and 40 minutes it sank beneath the waters of the North Atlantic. You will receive more time; 9 hours, is all the time you will be given to escape." With that the room fell deathly quiet. There was nothing but the deafening silence.

The silence lasted moments until the sound of a tolling bell echoed. It took mere moments to trace the sound to an old clock embedded in the wall. 7…8…9…As the 9th bell faded they waited for the 10th, but it never came, meaning it was 9 o'clock. Warren guessed it was most likely 9 in the evening, because when he had looked through the port-hole all there had been was blackness. It had to be night time. Although that meant they would need to escape by 6 am tomorrow.

"Now it is time. Let our game begin. I wish you all the best of luck." Came the loud speaker, scaring all of them, 'cept the pale boy who had taken a seat on the step, he didn't move.

Midnight hair once again began swearing at the speaker. Just hearing it made Warrens' body shiver. Warren became consumed by thought. There were so many things he didn't understand. Who was Zero? What was the Nonary Game? Why had he been chosen to make them part of it? Was Zero a criminal who got joy out of this sort of thing, or was there another purpose? And why was Warren here? Why were any of them here for that matter?

"Alright." The vampire guys' seemed oddly loud in the silence. "Standing around isn't gonna do much good. Let's go."

Spry scoffed. "Where? Open the doors? Why should we do what Zero says?"

Vampire guy frowned and continued speaking. "No. No, that wasn't what I meant. I'm saying find another way." Surprisingly they all separated and searched, once done all 9 returned to the same spot. No one had found any other way out. Although they had learned that D deck was completely under water and they couldn't go down any father.

Warren had watched the Angel looking girl touch the water and to his surprise she was just as perceptive as a person with sight and twice as friendly. They had also, however, found many doors with either locks or card readers and two elevators, besides the two numbered doors in the room. Evidently tension was irresolute and arguments broke out and evolved into shouting. Warren had kept quiet, but finally he couldn't take anymore.

"HEY! SHUT UP!" Instantly silence fell over them and Warren was once again glad that looks couldn't kill him. "Before we try and decide where we're going to go, there's something else we should do."

Angel clung to the white haired boy. "What's that?"

"We need to figure out how we're going to address each other. We don't know each other's names." They were all silent and avoiding Warrens' fierce gaze. Inside him a vortex of emotions raged and it had probably been why he had snapped.

Finally one of them spoke up, it was Skylar. "I agree; Warren's right."

Bi-colored eye made a face. "Warren?"

"Oh sorry, that's his name." Skylar pointed to Warren.

"That gives me an idea; let's have codenames." Bi-eye said smiling, everyone nodded. "Okay I'll be…Seven."

"Seven?" Warren asked puzzled."

"'Cause my number is Seven." Bi-eye stuck out her arm, sure enough her red LCD read 7.

Midnight hair smirked. "Oh, I get it, good idea. All right then, I'll be March." Everybody looked at him puzzled. "My number is 3 and March is the third month of the year, you got it?" He had a cocky smile from ear to ear as he showed them his bracelet.

"Okay…I'll go next. My number is 1 so...the name Ace seems appropriate." Vampire guy said as he showed them his bracelet.

"I'll be Hachi which is Japanese for the number 8, which just so happens to be my bracelet number." Said Spry-now-Hachi.

Angel made a slight movement that made Warren think that maybe she'd speak, which she did. "You can call me Nee, my number is 2. And if you're all wondering about this," She pointed to her black ribbon over her eyes. "I'm actually blind and it used to freak people out so I just put on the ribbon."

Warren, along with everyone but the boy with the white hair, was blown away. An uncomfortable silence began to form until the boy with the white hair spoke up.

"I want to be called Snow, like my hair. It also has 4 letters like my number."

It was Warrens turn next and he thought hard about what he'd be called. "My number is 5 so I'll be…-" Hachi cut him off.

"Why even bother? We already know your name is Warren so why don't we call you that?" Hachi had a valid point. Everyone nodded in agreement.

"Then because I screwed up call me Sky. It's my nickname back home." Skylar folded her arms seeming somewhat agitated, but Warren sent a reassuring smile her way which she returned.

"Just call me Vincent…" The pale boy spoke for the first time. His number was 9.

Warren ran over the names in his head.

1 was Ace.

2 was Nee.

3 was March.

4 was Snow.

5 was Warrens' number.

Skylar was 6 and had shortened her name to Sky.

7 was Seven.

8 was Hachi.

And 9 was Vincent.

The Nonary Game had chosen its' players.

**Well there you have it guys the game has started. And it's come to my attention that some useless information should be shared. Aces' name is actually Devin and he is a Vampire. He lives in Halloween Town and is the nephew of the vampire brothers. He looks like Alexander Sterling and if I have my way ill post a link to deviant art of my drawing of him. Nees' name is Angelina. She really is blind and her father is an "evil" scientist named Dr. Drake Guillotine and he's a mix between Lloyd from Code Geass and Stein from Soul Eater. Ill post 'em all. Marchs' name is Myde and I really don't know how to explain how he looks. Snows' is Allen and his original design looked like Matt from cyberchase…no joke. Warren is Warren. Sky is Skylar. Seven is Shea and she is an O.C for Final Fantasy Crisis Core she was put in the mako reacter (I don't know if it's one word or not.), but anyway the power went out or something and screwed her up so only one eye turned mako blue and the other stayed brown. Hachi's name is Terra and she's just an OC I made for um nothing really she's just the cousin of Samn Crisis. (My first OC). Vincent's name is actually Vincent and he lives in the world of Corpse Bride, but in my mind if you can die you can also go to Halloween Town. He's kinda dead but kinda not. He's skinny as hell and has black hair that covers one of his eyes. Think Victor from Corpse Bride I guess. Let's see….what else…OH there's only one more written chapter after this so after ch6 they'll come slower 'cause I have to play the game while I write and it's a pain in the butt. Thanks for reading anyway ^^.**


	6. Chapter 6

Vincent; the boy who's number read 9, was still sitting on the stairs, but his demeanor had changed. He now looked as if he was in mid thought. After a moment he stood up, it startled the other members.

"We need to figure out who's going in which rooms, an how to open the doors. Snow, please come over here." Snow gave Vincent a cynical look, but let go of Nee's hand and turned to stand by Vincent. "Place your left hand over the scanner panel; the round thing on the wall."

Snow did as he was told, but very slowly. The machine made a cold electronic noise and on the display above the scanner pad, an asterisk appeared.

"So that's how it works." Thought Warren to himself. "By placing ones palm on what Vincent called the scanner panel the users' bracelet number would be entered into the device.

Warren watched as Vincent scanned the room, his eyes resting on Ace. "Your turn." Warren thought he saw a look of remembrance on Ace's face as he moved toward the device, but the look quickly vanished.

Ace put his hand on the scanner panel. The device beeped again as a second asterisk appeared. The device now had Ace's number and Snow's number; 1 and 4. 4+1=5 the same as the number written on the door, but it wouldn't open just yet. Warren thought back to what Zero had said.

"Only 3-5 people can pass though one numbered door." Obviously the door needed one more number and one more person, but who? Warren thought for a moment. The logical choice was to choose Vincent himself. 4+1+9=14 and 1+4=5.

"Now can both of you go back?" Snow returned to Nee's side as Ace returned to where he had been standing. "I'm not really all that good at puzzles…and I'd only slow you guys down, but I wanted to help at least once." Vincent pressed his own hand against the scanner panel and a third asterisk appeared on the screen. His hand dropped to the lever on the side of the device and pulled.

The door opened with a heavy, metallic groan.

"Vincent wait!" shouted Warren, but Vincent was already though the door.

"If anything happens…I'm already dead so don't worry." Shocked looks came over everyone except Ace. "So…bye."

Vincent lifted a scrawny arm and waved goodbye a shameful look was on his face. The door shut with a dull clang of metal on metal. Warren ran to the door the others close behind. Several pairs of hands grabbed the handle of the door and pulled. They grunted and strained, but…it wouldn't budge.

Warren punched the door with his already bruised hand.

"DAMMIT! It won't budge."

"Move I'll try!" Seven pushed Warren out of the way and kicked the door with all her might. It didn't move.

Hachi cupped her ear and spoke, but her voice was quiet. "Do you guys hear that?"

"Hear what?" Was Warren's immediate response.

"Beeping or something…"

Warren pressed his ear to the cold metal of the door, the others followed.

Sky pulled away quickly. "You're right!"

March shrunk back. "What _is_ that?"

Then they heard something else, it was Vincent. "I'm sorry Devin, but I'll meet you back in town. Try to win, win for Pan."

Warren had no idea what he was talking about, but he watched as Ace walked over to the stairs and sat putting his head in his hands. A thought crossed Warren's mind. "Quick! Hachi, Sky, March, Snow, put your hands on the panel." They all did but nothing happened. It hadn't even registered them. 8+6+3+2+4=23 and 2+3=5, but why hadn't it worked? Warren looked at the display where the asterisk had been. It now read "ENGAGED", Vincent had become silent, but then an explosion erupted. It had come from behind the door and had rocked the whole room. All of them had instantly ducked, but stood up after they had realized there was no immediate danger.

No one said a word until a tone echoed across the room reminding Warren of a gunshot. All eyes became fixated on the panel, which the sound had come from. The display changed from "ENGAGED" to "VACANT".

Seven swallowed hard. "Let's see if we can open it."

Warren nodded and placed his hand on the panel. A red asterisk appeared. The device had registered Warren's bracelet number, which was 5. Although he was not enough, he needed two more people. Warren looked at Ace who was still on the stairs.

"March, Sky, will you give me a hand?" Warren would have laughed at the unintentional pun, but the mood was still grim.

Both March and Sky lifted their left hands to present their numbers. 5+3+6=14. 1+4=5. March verified then Sky followed suit.

"You guys ready?" I'm gonna open it." Warren grabbed the lever and glanced back over his shoulder. They all stiffened and nodded. Warren nodded back his mouth becoming a grin line. Then slowly, he lowered the lever. There was a metallic groan and the door opened. A breath of air wafted out, carrying a horrible stench that would have made milk curdle. Warren grimaced and put a hand over his mouth, the smell was starting to register in his senses and he could almost taste it.

Hachi, who had been the spry one before attempted to step back but only fell on her butt. Ace appeared behind her and helped her back up to her feet, letting her use him as a crutch. He tried to evade both the scene and the smell, but he couldn't. "My god…"

Seven shuddered. "Whoa…that's pretty bad…"

Even March's voice shook. "He…blew up."

March's statement was right. The hallway at the other end of the door was splattered with chunks of torn flesh and dark red blood. It seemed like a butcher tried to mince a cow…with a chainsaw.

"Aaaaaaaaaiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii!" The shriek echoed across the room. It had come from Sky. Warren watched as the strength drained from her and she dropped to her knees. He was at her side within an instant, but as Warren reached her the door once again groaned shut.

"Sky! Sky! Are you okay?!" Warren dropped to his knees and put his arms around her shoulders. Sky was radiating intense heat and it had come out of nowhere. "WHAT THE HELL?! Where did this fever come from?" Sky didn't answer. Her body began to shake and her face drained of whatever color had been there. To Warren, Sky's welfare was very important. "Just rest here for a minute. Can you walk?" Sky nodded weakly in response and Warren was tempted to carry her himself, but instead he lifted her to her feet and guided her to a nearby chair.

Warren set her down as gently as humanly possible. "You alright?" His voice was soft and filled with concern. Sky nodded and as she did Warren could just make out a tear rolling down her face. "Why…why did this have to happen? Even someone who is already dead doesn't deserve this!" Sky's voice crackled and there was nothing worth saying or anything that could console Sky or make Vincent return. Warren couldn't do a thing and that made him feel completely and utterly useless.

There were only 8 remaining; Ace, Nee, March, Snow, Warren, Sky, Seven, and Hachi. Clearly this game was meant to hurt.

**Wow I can't believe I pounded out this chapter tonight too. It's like 5 ½ composition notebook pages and my writing is tiny. The sad news though is that now I'm actually gonna have to do work. Now I gotta play the game and write. It's gonna be such a pain…but you guys seem to like it so I'll keep writing until I either die in the game or finish it. AND THAT'S WHAT YOU GUYS CAN DECIDE. Write in a comment whether you want Warren to live or die. I'm not a big fan of kill offs, but we'll see what happens. I don't really remember the write combination to live anyway…TO DA INTERNETS! Just kidding. Well 'till next time kiddos leave a comment, favorite, follow, all that jazz. Get bored? Why don't you watch my YouTube videos or follow me on twitter (SamnCrisis for both). Hmmm what else is there? I don't know just leave a comment or an idea in a review I get emails so I read 'em like the second after you post 'em, but until then you stay shiny.**


End file.
